Impasse Continues on India Pakistan Bilateral Ties

Impasse Continues on India Pakistan Bilateral Ties

The Indian government made it clear on Monday (May 29) that sporting relations with Pakistan will not be possible given the current strained political relations between the two countries. Sports minister Vijay Goel ruled out any chance of a bilateral cricket series between the neighbours saying, "BCCI should speak to the government before giving any proposal to Pakistan."

The minister's statement came in the buildup to a meeting between the BCCI and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in Dubai on Monday to discuss possibilities of reviving the bilateral series, which has remained suspended since 2012.

"I have made it clear that bilateral cricket with Pakistan is not possible till the time there is cross-border terror. We have, however, no say on multilateral events (ICC tournaments)," Goel told reporters.

The impasse continued post Monday's meeting between the two sets of officials, where the BCCI is understood to have reiterated its earlier stance: that it cannot play bilateral cricket with Pakistan without government clearance. The two boards could meet once more, informally, on the sidelines of the India vs Pakistan Champions Trophy clash in Birmingham next week.

The PCB has already sent a dispute notice to BCCI claiming damages to the tune of $60 million (Rs 387 crore approximately) for allegedly not honouring the MoU that had mandated six bilateral series between the two in the cycle between 2015-2023. However, BCCI has specified that the MoU was only a letter and not a legally-binding contract.

BCCI has also said that it has categorically told PCB that since the ICC, led by its chairman Shashank Manohar, has already shot down the resolutions of 2014, it cannot ask the Indian board to honour a commitment (of playing six bilateral series with Pakistan), which was made back then only in case those proposals were passed.

"We made it clear to the PCB officials that we will be meeting them only as a courtesy to the notice sent by them. Playing cricket with Pakistan is a diplomatic decision, which we cannot take on our own," said a BCCI official.

According to the aforementioned MoU, India were scheduled to tour Pakistan in 2015 and host a return series in 2017. Having not got permission to play in Pakistan, BCCI offered to host Pakistan at home, a proposal shot down by PCB. The Indian board subsequently rejected an offer to play Pakistan at a neutral venue